It is the biggest Hollywood scandal in recent months: Actress Blake Lively and director Justin Baldoni, who released their drama Just One More Time – It Ends with Us in cinemas in August 2024, are arguing in court. And the latest developments also concern Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds: He should made fun of Baldoni with the Deadpool & Wolverine character Nicepool have.
Nicepool in Deadpool & Wolverine: What is Ryan Reynolds accused of?
As Variety reports, Baldoni’s lawyer has sent so-called litigation hold letters to Disney boss Bob Iger and Marvel producer Kevin Feige. The instruction, known in German as a process block, calls on people or companies to secure their own documents and, if necessary, make them available for future legal negotiations. In this case it is probably about documents related to Deadpool & Wolverine.
According to the report, Baldoni’s lawyer Ryan Reynolds suspects of defaming his client in the Marvel hit: The Character Nicepool is said to be modeled after the director and actor. Nicepool is ostensibly portrayed in the film as the “nice” version of Deadpool, who pursues interests such as yoga and mental growth. However, hidden behind their alleged tolerance are many inhumane statements, especially towards women.
Reynolds will not be sued directly. But it could come to this: A stay of proceedings is usually imposed to secure documents for an upcoming dispute in court. Even if Reynolds doesn’t end up directly in the line of fire, Baldoni’s lawyer could cite Nicepool as an attempt at defamation from the Blake Lively camp.
This is what the fight between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni is about
A conflict between Lively and Baldoni first became apparent to the public in August 2024, when both stars promoted their film together Just One More Time Separately. Eventually reports from the set appeared, the Baldoni abusive behavior and derogatory statements accused Lively.
Shortly afterwards, Lively was also criticized: Some observers accused her of telling the tragic and disturbing story of Just One More Time to exploit it for the promotion of lifestyle products. At the same time, others criticized her behavior in past interviews, which they perceived as condescending.
At the end of December 2024, Lively finally sued Baldoni for sexual harassment and character assassination. During the filming of Just One More Time, there was said to have been a crisis meeting that discussed Baldoni’s alleged porn addiction, his handling of sex scenes and his inappropriate behavior towards Lively. He is also accused of starting a smear campaign against the actress after the film’s premiere.
It remains to be seen whether people like Kevin Feige and Ryan Reynolds will be directly involved in the disputes. Lively has previously mentioned Reynolds’ screenwriting involvement in Just One More Time in the Past. So he may have been right in the middle of it all from the start.